Last night Tim went to pick up a special new toy for Makaela. She always fusses for a couple minutes when he goes out the door, but last night she tried out a new tactic. When it got quiet, I knew it was time to check on her and this is what I found.
Me: "Oh you want to go on a stroller walk?"
Mak: "Yah! Go, go, go!"
Me: "I wish we could, but remember it's almost night-night time. It's very dark, but let's go on a walk tomorrow morning."
...and then she kicked back in the stroller, and I went back about my business. A couple minutes later I hear the door knob rattling.
I admire your inventive, adventurous spirit kid, but we're still not going on a walk.
Tim enjoyed these funny pictures when he got home, but unfortunately the little nugget was in bed already when he arrived, so she'd have to wait until morning to see her new toy.
And you know what, it was a good thing, because the girl played with her new diner ALL DAY. If she had gotten it before bed, she may have pulled an all nighter.
She has a play kitchen, but this takes it up a notch. This is a play kitchen with seating attached! It is set up like a little diner...so cute. She ate breakfast, lunch and sevvvvveral snacks in her diner today. It took some convincing, but she had dinner with us like normal at the table.
Have I mentioned that? She sits in a normal chair at our dining room table! Like an adult. No booster. No high chair. Totally the big leagues. It makes meal time so cute. Oh and being the sophisticated lady that she is, she insists on always using utensils. Sometimes this means eating a spoonful of blueberries. And if she can't manage to scoop it up, she picks up the item and places it onto her spoon and THEN puts it in her mouth. Yes, that's right, when she had corn with dinner the other night she would pick up one kernel, place it on her spoon and then put that HUGE bite ;-) into her mouth. We were at the table for awhile. Sorry, that was a long side tangent. It's just adorable to witness.
Grandpa and Grandma are going to be proud and love this little diner...keeping the family business alive!
Makaela's first Christmas was perfect, if I do say so myself. We enjoyed a nice, relaxing family day....basically my dream holiday scenario. Many times Tim is overseas for Christmas, so it was extra special that we could all spend Makaela's first one together!
She must have made the cut for Santa's nice list because she received some super fun gifts, and it is obvious that her family and friends definitely love to spoil her rotten because they sent very generous and thoughtful presents as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you all. We appreciate it so much.
Rumor has it Santa l-o-v-e-s slightly undercooked chocolate chip cookies....and since he is such a swell fella, we made a plate for him.
Then we followed our normal bedtime routine, but in footed pajamas, of course. They are a non-negotiable holiday must. Makaela wore her "Merry Grinchmas" ones and I wore my (not so festive) shark ones.
On Christmas morning when the little one woke up around 730 we scooped her up and took her in to open presents. I full anticipated that she would loose interest after two gifts or would be fixated on the wrapping paper only, but boy was I wrong! She was TOTALLY into it. I'm not kidding when I say she was fascinated by EACH gift she received and took time to touch and explore them all. What.a.little.doll.
She got such a great variety of gifts. Not only are they all fun, but they challenge her in different ways...doesn't get much better than that. She got LeapFrog learning toys, sensory balls, blocks, colorful Melissa & Doug caterpillar and butterfly gears, animal and car push toys, an animal see and say toy, a lion Scentsy buddy, books, stacking cups, magnets, adorable TinyToms shoes, a plush rug, a car-shaped activity center and some music makers!
In an effort to keep things fresh and exciting and not let any toys be forgotten, we try and pull out a variety of toys daily. We also keep them in different rooms, so she has new things to "discover" in each room. It's a blast and a half to see her light up with excitement playing with or snuggling her new goodies.
Miss Makaela also "picked out" some special gifts for Mommy and Daddy. Daddy got some clothes, gift cards and electronics, along with this handmade coffee mug stuffed with coffee treats...
I traced Makaela's little hand onto paper and then cut it out and taped it onto the mug and used a sharpie to dot an outline. Once I finished doing that, I removed the paper, and stuck on a "d" and "a" sticker. Next, I picked out three sharpies (I wanted to create an ombre effect) and went to town dot-ing away. After I was done, I removed the "da" and tossed the mug in the oven at 425 for 35 minutes. I put the mug in the oven while the oven preheated, to allow it to adjust to the gradual heat. I will most likely go over this with ceramic markers so that this little guy becomes dishwasher safe, but for now we don't mind hand washing him!
Makaela got Mommy some clothes, a massage gift certificate and these fabulous rings...
They are custom made and say "Tim" and "Makaela." I first saw these on one of my favorite blogs when I was pregnant with little miss, and have had them on my wish list ever since. I looooooove them.
All that gift opening caused us to work up an appetite. I'm a sucker for traditions and told myself I want to have a special breakfast that I make Makaela every year. Behold the Rudolph pancake...
It's a good thing I plan to make them every year, because I sure do need the practice! Perhaps by her 10th Christmas I'll have it down. The antlers are made of turkey bacon, and the eyes are whipped cream with a craisin in the middle. His nose is a Rolo because someone (me) forgot to buy strawberries at the grocery store - dang!
This lady loves her some pancakes...
And now that Christmas is over I may or may not be starting to plan someone's first birthday celebration...
Guess what? Ver came to visit last week and we enjoyed some serious girl time. She flew out here the day after graduating with her M.S.W...yay!! Go Ver!
It was one good time after another. We spent time at the beach, downtown Seattle and of course got our share of couch time and stuff-our-face-with-delicious-food time. There were many cupcakes, cookies and brownies to be had. Did I mention the visit conveniently fell over Cinco de Mayo?? That happens to be a special holiday for Ver and I. We didn't disappoint and were sure to celebrate with enchiladas and margaritas. And of course Makaela's lesbian mamas also caused a spectacle at the restaurant by not knowing how to properly secure her carseat in the (jacked-up) high chair. Hey lady sitting across from us, we could do without the stares, order a shot of tequila and simmer down.
So at this point you're probably wondering why the heck this post is titled "Sensory Bottles and Infant Massage." Well, anyone who knows me and Ver knows there had to be craft time. Since Ver has tons of experience in child development she suggested we make sensory bottles for baby Mak. And when I say we, I mean she, because I was really no help at all.
She dyed pasta, filled a bottle with water and red/white/blue glitter, filled a bottle with pom poms, dyed rice and added glitter, filled a bottle with dyed water and oil, and filled a bottle with glitter. To dye the pasta and rice she mixed food coloring with alcohol to make sure the dye adhered to the items. The bottles stimulate Makaela's little baby senses and will be great as she gets older and can shake, rattle and roll them on her own. Currently her favorite is the pom pom bottle. Thank you Ver!!
And the fun didn't stop there. Ver has taught infant massage to many of the families she works with, so when Tim mentioned I was going to take a class to learn, Ver offered to teach me! Makaela was in heaven. She loves it!! It calms her and she makes the most adorable oooo's and coo's. We've done it on our own a few times since Ver left and are trying to work it into our nightly routine. We like to turn down the lights and turn on the Toddler Tunes music channel which plays soothing music in the evening. If anyone is interested, YouTube also has lots of helpful videos.
I love learning new, fun ways to spend time with my girl and help her learn <3
